New Jersey Future announces 2018 Smart Growth Award winners

An apartment at Roebling Lofts in Trenton — Courtesy: HHG Development

By Joshua Burd

The nonprofit New Jersey Future will honor major redevelopments in Hoboken, Orange and Trenton, as well as former Gov. James Florio, as part of its annual Smart Growth Awards celebration in early June.

The organization recently unveiled eight honorees for the program, which will take place June 6 at the Great Hall at Rutgers Newark at 15 Washington St. The award winners include:

700 Jackson, Hoboken: A transit-oriented, mixed-use, mixed-income development that includes public and civic uses and innovative storm water management features

Union Eagle Senior Apartments, Bordentown: An adaptive reuse of an abandoned industrial building in a gentrifying area into affordable senior and veterans’ housing

Primary partners: Mission First Housing Group, City of Bordentown, New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders

“These awards showcase not just exemplary plans and projects, but the leadership teams that are setting the standard for redevelopment in New Jersey,” said Peter Kasabach, executive director of New Jersey Future. “We hope and expect that other towns, developers and designers will learn from, and emulate, these examples. That’s why we created this competition, offer short videos of the winners and then catalog their successes on our website.”

The Trenton-based advocacy group also announced last week that it would honor Florio, the state’s 49th governor, with its Cary Edwards Leadership Award. Among other achievements, New Jersey Future touted his advocacy for environmental protection and transportation planning.

The organization also highlighted Florio’s advocacy for coordinated planning at the state level and a commitment to infrastructure already-built areas, leading to the adoption of the first State Development and Redevelopment Plan during his administration.

“It’s difficult to count all the ways Jim Florio’s efforts have made New Jersey a better place,” New Jersey Future Chairman Peter Reinhart said. “During his time in Congress and as governor, Jim Florio was a visionary in seeing the future needs of New Jersey.

“In the many years following public office, he has continued to be a major voice and leading policy advocate for a better future for the people of New Jersey. Every day, we breathe cleaner air, drink cleaner water, can redevelop on cleaner land, and have a robust regional and national passenger and freight rail network, in no small part because of Jim Florio. This honor is so well-deserved.

Joshua Burd, an award-winning reporter and editor, has been covering New Jersey commercial real estate for five years. Many industry leaders view him as the go-to real estate reporter in the state, a role he is eager to continue as the editor of Real Estate NJ. He is a lifelong New Jersey resident who has spent a decade covering the great Garden State.